Draft seal



May 19, 1953 R. J. MENZIES' 2,638,641

. DRAFT SEAL Filed June 5, 1952 Fig.1

INVENTOR. Poaeszr J. Msuzms a 'xgg-W 0m Aq ro \zu EYS Patented May 19,1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE DRAFT SEAL Robert J. Menzies, Detroit,Mich. Application June 3, 1952, Serial No. 291,457

2 Claims.

' This invention relates to a draft seal for doors. The invention is adoor seal of the type wherein a sealing strip is normally maintained inan inoperative position in which the strip is swung outwardly from thebottom edge of a door on which it is pivotally mounted, when the door isopen,

with the strip swinging inwardly to an operative,

This characteristic of door seals of the type referred to tends toincrease the cost of manufacture thereof. Therefore, the main objects ofthe present invention are first to provide a draft. seal for doorswhich, though of the swinging, jamb-engaging type, will be usable oneither right or left hand opening doors; and second, to provide a sealwhich, though made in one size only, can be readily adapted, by theconsumer, to fit doors of different widths.

Other objects will appear from the following description, the claimsappended thereto, and from the annexed drawing, in which like referencecharacters designate like parts throughout the several views, andwherein:

Figure 1 is a front elevational view, a door on which the device ismounted, and its associated jambs, being shown fragmentarily;

Figure 2 is an enlarged sectional view on line 22 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is an enlarged sectional view on line 3-3 of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a fragmentary, exploded perspective view on an enlargedscaleshowing the sealing strip actuating means; and

Figure 5 is an enlarged end elevational view, taken from the right ofFigure 1.

Referring to the drawings in detail, a door I0 is hung by hinges ll uponone of a pair of jambs I2. The invention is mounted upon the door alongthe bottom edge thereof, to prevent a stream of air from passing underthe door when the door is closed.

The device includes a stationary support mem-. ber l4'. This can beextruded from plastic or aluminum, and is of elongated formation,extending in parallelism with and in close-spaced relation to the bottomedgeof the door. The support member is so formed as to include arelatively thin, upper longitudinal edge portion It, having alongitudinal series of openings through which screws I8 or otherfastening elements can be extruded, for the purpose of securing thesupport member fixedly to the door.v

Integral with the portion it, and also constituting part of the supportmember, is a lower longitudinal edge portion 20, coterminous with theupper portion, and formed to a thickness somewhat greater than that ofthe upper portion. This is best shown in Figure 2.

Also provided as an integral part of the support member is an elongated,transversely curved flange, that extends the full length of the supportmember and projects laterally and outwardly therefrom. The'flange 22, aswill be noted from Figure 2, is curved through a little more than ninetydegrees of a circle, for a purpose to be made presently apparent herein.

The provision of the flange defines a longitudinal recess 24 on thefront or exposed face of the support member, said recess extendingthrough the full length of the member and receiving the upper edgeportion of a swingable body 26. The body 26 is of integral formation,and like the member I4, can be formed by the extrusion process fromplastic material such as that produced commercially under the trade-markTenite,

from aluminum, or from any other substance found suitable.

In any event, the body 26 comprises an elongated, relatively thin plate28 having at its upper edge a longitudinal bead formation 38 of circularcross-sectional configuration. The bead formation is complementary toand is received within the longitudinal recess 24, thus to connect thebody 26 along its upper edge to the midwidth portion of the member M forswinging movement toward and away from the door It.

In assembling the device, one need only extend the bead formation tointo the recess at one end of the recess, thereafter sliding the body2%; Iongitudinally of the member 14 until one end of the member i4 isflush with one end of said body. Since the flange 22 extends below theaxis of rotation of the bead formation, the body 26 will be securelyretained within the recess and will be incapable of droppingaccidentally therefrom, the arrangement being not unlike that of aconventional ball and socket joint.

Along its lower edge, the body 26 is formed with a flat flange thatstraddles and is related perpendicularly to the plane or the plate 28,thus to impart to the body, at said lower edge thereof, an invertedT-shaped cross-sectional appearance.

The purpose of the bottom flange 32 of the body 26 is to provide meansfor connecting to the body a sealing strip 34 of fiexible material suchas soft rubber. This, as seen to advantage in Figure 1, is quite thinalong its bottom or floor-engaging edge, the opposite faces of the stripdiverging upwardly to form, at the upper edge of the strip, a'relativelythicktop edge portion 35 having formed therein a longitudinal project asubstantial distance beyond one end.

of the support member 1,4. The body and strip,

in this connection, extend fully from side edge to side edge of a doorll! on, which the device is mounted, while the support member it isterminated, at one end, at alocationfalling short. of the. adjacent sideedge ofthe door.

That end portionof the bead 39 that is disposed beyond the body M isformed with an axial bore Eli. Further, said end portionof the beadfitis cutaway as at 4'2ffor part of its length, intermediate the oppositeends of said bore. A

hinge plate M, having screw-receiving openings 5,,

whereby it may be fixedly secured to the door, is formed with a hingesleeve 46? medially between its' upperv and lower ends, and the sleeveis. positioned in one end of the recess 42, in coaxial alignment withthe bead formation 3d.

An elongated pin 18 is then extended into the bore ill and passesvthrough the sleeve 46, this arrangementbeingshown to its best advantagein Figure 3. Rigid withjthe outer end of the pin is the intermediateportionof an elongated striker arm'5il, disposed'beyondthe adjacent endof the body 26'.

The striker arm has a head 52" at its upper end; and adjacent its lowerend, is formed with a pair of closely spaced ears 54'' having apertures56. The ears 54, in the; assembled position of the parts, overlie theopposite facesof the plate 23' of the body'zt', with the apertures B"registering with apertures fiflprovided' in the plate. Rivets orequivalent fastening elements are then employed torigidly' connecttheearsof, the striker armto the body; so that swingingmovement of thestriker arm will beeffective to cause the body, and the sealing strip,-toswingjointly therewith.

To complete. the mounting of the sealing device upon the door assembly,the jambzadjacent thestriker. arm is mortised to receive anangulai.striker plate 50, the, plate sll being screwed or otherwise rigidlyattached to, the jamb.,

Before the pinis extended fully into the bore.

M3, a spring BZis placed in the recess 42. and.

its ends operatively engagedwith the body 25 in a manner effective tonormally urge the body outwardly from the door. The pin isthen extendedthrough the sprin thus'to complete the. assembly of the parts ofIthe.device.

In use, the swinging. of the door'to its open position will'cause thebody 26and the'sealing strip tobe swung outwardly to the position- Inthis way, I

thereof illustrated in Figure 5, under the pressure of the spring 62.Subsequently, when the door is closed, the head 52 will come intoengagement with the striker plate Be as the door nears its closedposition, and as a result, the striker arm will be swung to a verticalposition, thus to shift the bottom edge portion 38 of the sealing stripinto engagement With the floor surface F.

Important characteristics: of theinvention should now be" noted.The-construction is specifically designed to permit the device to bemade in a single size, rather than in many sizes as is true ofcomparable draft seals now in use. In

' other words, since all the actuating and control devices are disposedat one end of the assembly, shown as the right end in Figure l, theother end ofthe assembly can be out down by the purchaserqto fit anydoor on which he may desire to mount the draft seal. Accordingly, in acommercial. embodiment, I would ordinarily manufacture thev device in alength designed to permit its beingv mounted on doors greatest in widthamongv those in general use. To attach the device to a door thatis of asmaller width, one need only cut on the body, sealing strip, andsupport, to the selected length.

The second important characteristic of the invention resides in itsadaptability for mounting upon either rightor left hand opening doors.Here again, draft seals of the pivoted type having means for swingingthe sealing strip inwardly and outwardly responsive to opening andclosing of the doors are not, to my knowledge, capable of universal usein this manner.

The adaptability of the device for mounting upon right and left handopening doors derives from the reversibility of the body 26 within thelongitudinal recess of the support member. When the body is so reversed;the striker arm will be properly positioned'for engagement with thejamb, and it is necessary only that the hinge plate #4 be pivoteddegrees about the pivot pin 48 for connection to the door.

It is believed apparent that the invention is not necessarily'confined'to the specific use or uses thereof described above, since it may beutilized for any purpose to which it may be suited; Nor is the inventionto be necessarily limited to the specific construction illustrated anddescribed, since such construction is only intended'to be illustrativeof the principles of operation and the means presently devised tocarryout said principles, it beingconsidered that the inventioncomprehends any minor change in construction that maybe permitted withinthe scope of the appended claims,

What is claimedis:

l. A draft seal for doors comprising: an ,elongated support memberextendable longitudinally of and adapted for fixed connection to thebottom edge of'a door, saidmember having a longitudinal recess extendingthe full length of the support member and formed open at its oppositeends; a body having a longitudinal bead formation rot'atably engaged insaid recess and extendable' intov either endof the recess for reversalof the bead formation end for end within the recess; a sealing stripsecured to said body, said recess and'bead formation providing meanseffective to mount thesealing strip for, pivotal movement toward andaway from a door to which the support memberj'is connected, into and outof engagement with afloor surface above which" thedooris hinged, theb'odyhaving one'end portion projecting beyond one end of the supportmember and provided with an axial bore and with a recess communicatingwith an inter mediate portion of said bore; a pin extending into saidbore and through the last-named recess; a striker arm secured to one endof the pin beyond said end portion of the body to be reversed therewithrelative to the support member and to swing with the body upon thesupport member, said arm being adapted for engagement thereof by a doorjamb on movement of the door to a closed position, thus to provide meanseffective for swinging the sealing strip in the direction of said door;and a spring circumposed about the pin and positioned within thelast-named recess, said spring being engaged with the body and beingtensioned to yieldably urge the same away from the door on which thesupport member is mounted.

2. A draft seal for doors comprising: an elongated support memberextendable longitudinally of and adapted for fixed connection to thebottom edge of a door, said member including a longitudinal flangeextending the full length of the member and curved transversely throughmore than ninety degrees to define a longitudinal recess in the supportmember, said recess being open at its opposite ends; a body having alongitudinal bead formation of circular cross section rotatably engagedwithin said recess and extendable into either end of the recess forreversal of the bead formation end for end within the recess; a sealingstrip secured to said body, said recess and bead formation providingmeans effective to mount the sealing strip for pivotal movement towardand away from a door to which the support member is connected, into andout of engagement with a floor surface above which the door is hinged,the body having one end portion projecting beyond one end of the supportmember provided with an axial bore and with a recess communicating withan intermediate portion of said bore; a extending into said. bore andthrough the last-named recess; a striker arm secured to one end of thepin beyond end portion of the body to be reversed therewith relative tothe support memher and to swing with the body upon the support member,said arm being adapted for engagement thereof by a door jamb on movementof the door to a closed position, thus to provide means effective forswinging the sealing strip in the direction of said door; and aspring-circumposed about the pin and positioned with the lastnamedrecess, said spring being engaged with the body and being tensioned toyieldably urge the same away from. the door on which the support memberis mounted.

ROBERT J. MENZIES.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 578,616 White Mar. 9, 1897 587,893 Ward Aug. 10, 18971,488,652 Scrabic Apr. 1, 1924

